Nights are Forever Without You
by Schmendrick the Demented
Summary: Gift fic for my betas.... its sort of a prequel to Lyrics to a Love Story.


Just wanted to mention that I don't own the song or the characters.  I figured I better write that again.

Okay people so this was another break.  I didn't send this to my all my beta's because I wanted to surprise you.  Only one beta got it and she sort of liked it.  I really wanted this to be a sort of gift to my beta's for being so wonderful and patient with me.  If you guys don't like it I'll write you another gift fic.  It's a prequel to Lyrics to a Love Story.  I hope you all enjoy it!

Nights are Forever Without You

Dinner had finished a long time ago.  Ayeka sighed as she looked up at the moon.  Tonight would mark the last night of exile, Tenchi would be returning home from college tomorrow.  Closing her eyes hoping to stave off the encroaching tears Ayeka took a shuddering breath. 

Feeling lonesome Ayeka opened her eyes.  Looking around the room for a moment Ayeka smiled.  Faint memories flutter past her eyes, happy moments with Sasami and the rest of her family.  Turning her head to look at her darling sister, Ayeka smile became tender.  Still so young, and yet the first flushes of womanhood were noticeable in the once little girl.

_She'll grow to be beautiful, but she will always be my little Sasami…Ayeka thought fondly.  Ayeka listened to the soft tones of the delicate music that whispered through the night breeze.  Sasami could not sleep without that radio on.  It had been Tenchi's parting gift to the girl and she played it constantly._

**_

Lying in bed with the radio on

_**

Ayeka turned to the window again.  The night seemed impossibly long.  Sighing again and shifting restlessly she watched the night sky pass.  The bright moonlight flirted with the forest below, hiding behind cotton-puffed clouds.  The moon slid out from behind a cloud and the landscape was washed in its silvered light.

**_

Moonlight falls like rain

_**   
  


Ayeka turned again, lying flat on her back.  Shifting repeatedly moving long lean legs in restless anxiety.  Ayeka placed her arms above her head trying to get comfortable.  Then shifted, moving her arms to rest at her sides.  Seconds later she moved to rest on her stomach, stuffing her head down into the pillow.  Clenching her eyes closed Ayeka tired desperately to sleep.  She could get to sleep if the night wasn't so… so… so….  Ayeka's thoughts petered off, as she couldn't figure out what was wrong with the night.

  
 **_

Soft summer nights spent thinking of you

_**

The night was too warm… yes it had to be the night.  It simply could not be something the matter with her.  Looking back to the peacefully slumbering Sasami, Ayeka swallowed the rest of her mental complaints.  No, the night was actually perfect.  The soft moonlight, the cool gentle breeze chilled the warm house to a soothing temperature.  No it was Tenchi.  Always Tenchi.  She missed him… desperately, so very, very desperately.

_**

When will I see you again

**_

Ayeka rolled to her side.  She desperately missed him.  His soft brown eyes, smiling down at her, his gentle smile so sweet and kind.  His work roughened hands, so strong and capable.  Shaking herself from her straying thoughts Ayeka sighed as she turned to the window again.  

_**

Soft and low the music moans

**_

Sasami's little radio was softly crooning another song.  The meandering rhythm and woeful singer suited her mood.  Closing her eyes again Ayeka allowed the music to lull her.  The close harmonies of the singer and backup caressed her ears as she turned away from the beauty and romance of the star-dappled sky outside the window.

_**

I can't stop thinking about you

**_

**__**

Thinking about you 

**_  
  
_**

Tenchi!  He had done this too her!  If he had just not made her fall in love with him, she would be fine right now!  The soft sounds of night wouldn't make her long for him.  The gentle sweep of the sheets against her skin wouldn't make her wish for his touch.  Nothing in this amazing moonlit night would make her think of him.  But she had fallen in love with him.  And everything about the night made her long for him.

_**

I didn't know it would be so strong

**_

When he had left for college she hadn't realized how much she would grow to miss him.  The week had slipped by with deceptive ease.  She hadn't really noticed his absence, managing to somehow keep busy enough to not think about his absence during the day and too exhausted to think about it at night.  Not until tonight!  Tonight was unbearable.  She couldn't have ever imagined the sheer torture that longing was.  How could one person make such a hole in her life?  The void was easy enough to ignore during the day.  But at night, especially on a night like tonight, it was so very hard to ignore.

_**

Waiting and wondering about you

**_

Ayeka tossed again finally giving up pretenses of trying to sleep.  There would be none of that tonight.  The questions would be coming soon.  She dreaded them.  Was he happy without her?  Was he with someone else?  Was he having a good time?  Was he eating properly?  Question after question rolled through the princess' mind as she battled against the silent tears that were making the moonlight a blur.

_**

I didn't know it would last so long

**_

Ayeka rose to a seated position.  She had to get to sleep.  Sasami would be worried in the morning.  Somehow she had to get back to sleep.  But how, what had felt like hours had been only a mere 6 minutes.  If time passed this slowly, how was she to ever get to sleep?

_**

Nights are forever without you

**_

****

Rising from her bed and crossing to the window Ayeka gave up.  Looking out to the mountains, Ayeka smiled softly.  Tonight would have been the perfect night to have confessed to Tenchi.  But that was not a matter to deal with now.  She had missed her chance and now she paid the price.   The nights felt eternal.  

_**

Nights are forever without you

**_   
  


If she could get through this night she could survive anything, but the trick was to somehow get through this night.  Ayeka turned back to her bed.  Looking down at it she had to smirk.  The sheets had been thrown to the floor and the blanket was tossed haphazardly across the foot.  Pillows in complete disarray.  It looked like Ryoko's bed.  Chuckling to herself, Ayeka shook her head, what would she do with Ryoko.  Honestly the woman had been inconsolable since Tenchi's departure.

But that was something to worry about during the day.  Straightening her bed Ayeka settled back down, trying to get some sleep.  The nights were going to last forever now that Tenchi was gone.  Sighing as a lone tear finally escaped from Ayeka's tight control, she tried not to think about how many more hours were left in the night.  Too many left, each and every one spent thinking about and missing Tenchi.

And while Ayeka struggled with her nightly demons, out on the porch Ryoko wrestled with hers.  Ryoko sat watching the moon.  It had been on a night like tonight that she had finally confessed her love for him.  And he had told her he needed more time.  Time away from the family to discover himself, time to figure out his heart.  Time for a multitude of things, but none of which was specifically about her.

_**

The curtains still dance with the wind and the sky

**_  
  


Turning her head up to look at Tenchi's bedroom window, she noticed it was open.  The gentle breeze had pulled curtain free and now tossed it about with unseen waves.  Ryoko didn't care if he loved someone else.  She could be happy for him; her own happiness had never been a matter of importance to her.  But what had hurt had been the discarded feeling she had felt on the day he had left.**_  
  
_**

_**

The sun'll be coming up soon

**_

****

Ryoko turned back to the forest noticing the faintest hint to light beginning to touch the sky.  When had the moon crested the sky?  Ryoko shook her head.  Another night lost to thoughts of Tenchi.  Ryoko had spent every night since he had left outside the house.  She couldn't handle being inside that place at night.

_**

But I just can't sleep for thinking of you

**_

****

****

That house, the place that had been her home until he had left now was unbearable for her at nights.  It smelled of him.  Wreaked was more like it.  His scent permeated everything.  It was everywhere in that house.  Her sensitive nose could smell him on everything.  It was as if scent wise he had never left.  

_**

Here alone with the blues

**_

Ryoko turned tearful eyes back to the open window.  **His open window…had he left it open when he left?  Ryoko knew she was grasping at straws but there was very little to hold back the rush of tears that was clenching her throat shut.  **

_**

Soft and low the music moans

**_

Trying desperately to distract herself from her heartache, Ryoko's ears heard the faint sounds of Sasami's little radio.  The music was soothing, the lonesome lyrics echoing the pain in her heart.  Happy for the distraction Ryoko concentrated on the music, allowing the melody and the words to lull her into a gentle sway.

_**

I can't stop thinking about you

**_ _**

Thinking about you

**_

Lost in the music Ryoko tuned out all other sounds, she had always liked this song.  Eyes closed Ryoko began to slowly dance to the songs gentle rhythm.  Body supple and graceful Ryoko drifted in time to the song.  Thoughts of Tenchi straying unbidden into her mind, Ryoko's imagination spun a delightful fantasy.

_**

I didn't know it would be so strong

**_

Ryoko's body slowly twirled, her arms lifted in invitation to the image in her fantasy.  The need for Tenchi so strong, Ryoko drew infinite solace simply from the smile on her dream-Tenchi's face.  She needed him to be there just once?  Ryoko danced with her darling dream-Tenchi slowly caressing his now mature face.  Loving the adult angle of his chin and adoring his still gentle brown eyes.  So strong was Ryoko's need for Tenchi that for a moment the barriers around her heart slipped and emotions projected out from her in psychic waves.

_**

Waiting and wondering about you

**_

Tenchi tossed restlessly in his bed.  Thoughts of loved ones keeping him awake.  He just had to get to sleep this last night!  He needed to be refreshed for his return home.  Turning again on his bed Tenchi looked over at his alarm clock.  2:50 A.M.!  

Giving up on getting any sleep Tenchi threw the covers across the bed and stomped across the bedroom to his stereo.  Turning it on, Tenchi searched the dial for a particular station.  Remembering that the station couldn't be picked up by his radio so far from the source, he began to search his cd collection.  

Stabbing the open button on his stereo Tenchi waited for the try to emerge then, stuffed the cd into the first open slot.  Stabbing the open button again, Tenchi waited impatiently for the cd to wind up to speed and begin playing.  Again stabbing at the stereo with his finger, Tenchi pounded at the next track button.  Finally arriving at the lonesome tune that his heart craved he fast-forwarded through the song to just past the middle.  It took another minute's worth of shuffling back and forth through the song to find the right spot, when he finally found it… … …he could feel her. 

Her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips at his throat.    Her delicate pink tongue stealing out from her between her full lips to lick at his neck for a moment.  He could feel her entire body pressed flush to his, her voluptuous contours making his mouth dry.  He wondered if she missed him?  If she still loved him?  It had taken more than four years worth of soul-searching, but in the end he knew what his heart had been telling him since he was sixteen.

_**

I didn't know it would last so long

**_

Regret for the years wasted, when he could have spent them at her side, loving her.  He had felt the faint longing for her that first night away from home.  But had misdiagnosed it as homesickness.  And as time past and he learned more about himself and about women, he slowly realized his feeling for her… feelings of love and longing, desire and passion, longing and need.  He hadn't been prepared for the need to become overwhelming.  That once he had deciphered his heart that the longing would feel excruciatingly torturous.  Closing his eyes, Tenchi swayed in time to the music, mind wondering to an amazingly detailed fantasy of her.  

_**

Nights are forever without you

**_

He saw her hair, longer than he remembered it being, falling in a soft tumbling cascade down her back and passed her hips.  Her eyes the same rich bullion he remembered them were shadowed with pain.  His heart wrenched.  His absences had done that to her.  Those golden eyes usually twinkling with mischief and fun now seemed haunted.  Tenchi lowered his head to hers, stopping just before their lips met.  "I love you."  He finally said it.

Eyes wide with surprise her eyes turned the color of warm honey.  Their luminous depths glistening with unshed tears as he easily read her feelings in the trembling of her lips.  Lowering his head the last few millimeters that separated them, he kissed her.  She smelled of cherry blossoms and summer.  She tasted like yams and sake.  Curious about the flavor Tenchi delved deeper into the kiss and she willingly obliged.  Moaning into her mouth Tenchi decided that she tasted better than anything on the planet, there was nothing in creation that tasted better.

Tenchi felt her pull away from the kiss, groaning a protest he tried to stop her.  But finally she broke the kiss and buried her head at his neck.  With her wrap arms around his neck, she mumbled into his throat, "I love you too, my Tenchi."  The soft purr of her voice reminded Tenchi how much he had missed the sultry, husky lilt of her voice.

He had been about to kiss her again, when his alarm had gone off.  Eyes snapping open Tenchi swayed unsteadily as he suddenly returned to the real world.  Staggering across his bedroom, Tenchi slammed his fist violently down onto the alarm.  It was only 2:56?  What had possessed him to set the alarm so early?  Then he remembered he had forgotten to reset it after final exams.

Sighing loudly Tenchi flopped onto his bed.  He had at least five more hours before he had to leave to catch the train.  Closing his eyes Tenchi tried desperately to return to the fantasy, but he couldn't.  Groaning dejectedly Tenchi rolled over to look at the picture on his nightstand.  Reaching out Tenchi gently caressed the image of the woman he loved.  Rolling to rest on his back again Tenchi shifted restlessly again.

Somehow he would get through the rest of this night.  Just this one last night alone and he would be with his family. Just one more night to get through, he knew he could do it.  Trying desperately to not think of her, Tenchi listened as the next song on the cd began playing.  Blindly fumbling on the nightstand, Tenchi grabbed the stereo remote control and returned the cd to the previous track.

Somehow the song helped succor the melancholy edge off the longing.  Hitting the repeat track button Tenchi dropped the remote onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.  After what felt like forever he turned his head to look at the alarm clock. 3:02!  Sweet friggin' mercies!  This night was lasting forever!

Sighing dejectedly Tenchi resolved himself to the thought of spending the entire night awake.  Allowing the song to lull him Tenchi imagined her at his side.  And as his imagination supplied her form lying next to him, Tenchi realized something that made this night seem short and the nights ahead so much longer.  Until he confessed to Ayeka his true feelings, Ryoko would never be by his side.  Tenchi swiftly lifted his arms to wrap them around the fading image of Ryoko.  But by the time his arms closed in an embrace she was gone.  He was left with the vision of her, sad smile and haunted eyes.

No, tonight would be easy by comparison to the nights he had ahead of himself.  She would be constantly within arms reach, but seemingly forever an empire away.

_**

Nights are forever without you

**_

****

  
   
   
So did you like it?    Especially my betas?  Did you like it at all?  Please say yes?  I told you I'm a total approval slut!  So give me what I crave most.  Please tell me you liked it?  

Oh by the way, I had no intention for anyone to take my threat on holding back on the chapters seriously.  I'm working as fast as I can on them.  I'm sort of in the middle of moving and things are really hectic, so it might be awhile for everything.  But, when everything is said and done, I should have a butt load of chapters in different stories for you all to read.  So tell me what you think.  Especially my betas!! You know who you are.  This one was for you guys tell me what you think of it.  If you don't I'll pout!


End file.
